Graduation by Dennis Lange

The day has come; the march is played;
They take the walk in robes arrayed.
They slowly step while tassels swing,
And proudly wear their senior rings.

It is an army marching out,
To find what life is all about,
Against a seasoned foe, the world,
Their novice ranks against it hurled.

Unlike the nest they leave forthwith,
The world’s been hammered hard by smith.
And oft, one finds its face a stone
That one confronts when he’s alone.

Love softened that fled feathered nest,
But true love hardens for the test.
The fledgling flight cannot be weak
Because life’s weather can be bleak.

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 © Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2015

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The Nap by Dennis Lange

 

……………The Nap

A touring bus takes many stops,
…And all is tightly planned –
A ballet dance with leaps and hops
…In tune with time’s quick sand.

Among the first heard from the guide
…Are words that set the stage
About the dance that is the ride,
…“Stay on the same time page.”

“If minutes for a photo op
…Are only scheduled ten,
Then there’s no time to stop and shop;
…We must be off again.”

“The same is true if hours are two;
…You might be left behind
(If you’re a snail distractions woo),
…Lest we be in a bind.”

It’s even worse when there’s no bus.
…Guide naps; time does not keep.
Oh, well, we fail, yes each of us –
…‘Tis God who does not sleep.

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On a tour I took in 2014, the bus driver
gave us the usual warnings about being
on time.  In the afternoon, he took off
in the bus and took a nap and was late
picking us up!

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2015.

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A First by Dennis Lange

……..A First

My first triolet!
…How will it be favored?
I post it today –
My first triolet!
And readers will say,
…Soon after they’ve savored
My first triolet
…How it will be favored.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2014.

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It Reigns by Dennis Lange

……………………It Reigns

The sky is blue-cloudless, but still the sky rains,
Not water it holds, but the dust of the Plains.
The mist that is brown like the land, not the sky,
Now wearies the nose as it worries the eye.

The Plains are a table, as flat as can be,
And wind blows there often as careless and free
As stallions not stayed by a hand or a rein
Run wild o’er the prairie with high flying mane.

Now, north wind is blowing, both here and up there,
And carries its burden for others to share.
The distance it travels is three hundred miles,
And neither their faces or our faces have smiles.

For their land is blowing away from its home
And one day will leave them as bare as a bone,
While we are all suff’ring from soil that won’t stay –
It settles on hills that the rains wash away.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2014.

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The Sorrow Of Love by William Butler Yeats

………The Sorrow Of Love

The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves,
The brilliant moon and all the milky sky,
And all that famous harmony of leaves,
Had blotted out man’s image and his cry.

A girl arose that had red mournful lips
And seemed the greatness of the world in tears,
Doomed like Odysseus and the labouring ships
And proud as Priam murdered with his peers;

Arose, and on the instant clamorous eaves,
A climbing moon upon an empty sky,
And all that lamentation of the leaves,
Could but compose man’s image and his cry.

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The Present by Dennis Lange

 

 

The Present

‘Tis morning, and the dogs push out
   The door into the yard.
The sun’s still soft upon the hill;
   The day is fresh, not scarred. 

The deer stream down the sylvan slope;
    A dove sings to his mate.
The world is stretching, now awake;
   The day’s become its date. 

The hill is not aware of this,
   But I should fully be –
That I’ve been given yet again
   This prized commodity.

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photo by John Boyer at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/nkv8xwm/Sunrise+Trees

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.

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Before I Woke by Dennis Lange

Before I woke,
The fog rose from its river bed,
   And stepped across the strand
With muted feet, and careful tread,
   Crossed trees and roofs and land. 

Before I worked,
The wisps, like ghostly armies, fought,
   And won a war like night
Wins nightly ‘cause it softly wrought
   Surrender of one’s sight. 

Before I rose,
The silent soldiers as a mass
   Caused sky and land to meet.
When each for other both could pass,
   Their labor was complete. 

And then, I woke
With beams and warmed – my daily reign,
   My place as king of day –
And worked.  My toil was not in vain.
   I melted fog away.

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photo by Lynne Lancaster at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mrnQcoW/Misty+Morning

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.

 

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The Silver Sea by Dennis Lange

The Silver Sea

I launch upon a seamless sea
   Without a compass, chart.
Till found, I sail forth foolishly,
   Survive by guile or art. 

A shadow’s all there is of me,
   A speck when far away,
On ocean that goes endlessly
   From days into a day. 

The silver sea was here before
   My little ship set sail.
Most men with canvas or an oar
   Edged forward but to fail. 

Beyond horizon, tale is told,
   Believed as true by some,
That silver sea turns into gold
   And hope does truth become.    

And those few say there is a map
   That tells them where they are,
That leads them safely from a trap,
   And guides them to a star.   

I wonder, wonder if it’s true
   As I look at the sea.
If not, my shadow, at adieu,
   Is all that’s left of me.

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photo by A-K Rehse at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mfmqMX2/boat

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* I don’t wonder if it’s true.  I know it is.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.

 

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Woe Floats by Dennis Lange

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Woe Floats

Some find their solace in whisky;
But such has proven too risky.
     No sorrows are drowned;
     They just stay around,
And swim with new friends and get frisky.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.

 

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Legal Problems by Dennis Lange

Legal Problems

I told my kids, when they grew up,
   They could not lawyers be,
Or else I’d disinherit them
   And no more would I see.

But I forgot to mention that
   They could not marry one.
But she, though lawyer, is okay –
    The one that’s wed my son.

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* She’s more than okay.  She’s terrific
like my other daughter-in-law.  Here’s
to Kevin and Betty, whose wedding I
performed 2/23/13.

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photo by Marja Flick-Buijs at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/2dQ7Qo8/Wedding+cake+couple

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2013.

 

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